'An Independent Baptist Church'

FANNIE CROSBY

1820 - 1915 

TAKE FIFTEEN HYMNALS and stack them one on top of another. Taken all together, that's about the number of hymns Fanny Crosby wrote in her lifetime! Of course, many of those have been forgotten today, but a large number remain favorites of Christians all over the world.

Francis Jane Crosby was born into a family of strong Puritan ancestry in New York on March 24, 1820.

 . In May of 1820, when she was six weeks old, she caught a cold, and her eyes became slightly inflamed. The regular physician in Putnam County, New York, was out of town, and a man posing as a doctor gave her the wrong treatment. Within days, her eyesight was destroyed, and the man fled town in a panic.

 

The little baby girl became blind for life. A few months later, Fanny's dad became ill and died. Mercy Crosby, widowed at 21, hired herself out as a maid while Grandmother Eunice Crosby took care of little Fanny.

Mother and Grandmother raised Fanny to be a confident, happy child. She dressed herself, did her own hair, and had impeccable table manners. Known for being a mischief, Fanny spent as much time as possible climbing trees, riding horses, and playing practical jokes on her many friends. 

 

Grandma's guidance

          One of the strongest influences in Fanny's childhood was her grandmother. An intelligent and patient woman, she took Fanny on nature walks, describing every bud and leaf in meticulous detail. This wise grandmother would not Fanny wallow in self-pity.  She exposed her to great literature and poetry. Most importantly, she read her long passages from the Bible every day. She carefully explained the Bible to her, and she always emphasized the importance of prayer.
     Even with such attentive teaching, Fanny's thirst for knowledge was not satisfied; her mind was phenomenal. Before she was ten years old, she had memorized most of the New Testament and more than five books of the Old Testament. However, since schools at that time were not equipped to teach blind children, she was unable to receive a regular education. 
     Fanny knelt with her grandmother beside her rocker and prayed: "Dear Lord, please show me how I can learn like other children." It wasn't long before her mother gave her the exciting news about an opportunity to attend the New York Institute for the Blind. 

 

Grandparents – Do you realize how important you are to your grandchildren?  You can play a great influence in their lives.  In fact, you might be the only link they have to a Spiritual upbringing?  Have you taken time and made an extra effort to be with your grandchildren?  They might need you more than you realize?  Would we have ever heard of Fanny Crosby if her grandparents were too busy for her and off doing their ‘own thing’?  If that child is not getting any spiritual upbringing, you might be the one that must do it….

There are other people who have influences in our life….

A landlady of the Crosby's also had an important role in Fanny's development. Mrs. Hawley helped Fanny memorize the Bible, and often the young girl learned five chapters a week. She knew the Pentateuch, the Gospels, Proverbs, the Song of Solomon, and many of the psalms by heart. She developed a memory which often amazed her friends, but Fanny believed she was no different from others. Her blindness had simply forced her to develop her memory and her powers of concentration more.

Fanny did not look on her blindness as a terrible thing. Even at eight she composed this little verse:

Oh, what a happy child I am,
Although I cannot see!
I am resolved that in this world
Contented I will be!
How many blessings I enjoy
That other people don't!
So weep or sigh because I'm blind,
I cannot - nor I won't.

Amazing outlook
Blindness never produced self-pity in Fanny. In her adult years she would say, "It was the best thing that could have happened to me" or "How in the world could I have lived such a helpful life as I have lived had I not been blind?"  Fanny believed her blindness was permitted by the Lord to fulfill His plan for her life.

     Fanny was never bitter about the stranger's intervention. "I have not for a moment in more than eighty-five years felt a spark of resentment against him, because I have always believed...that the good Lord...by this means consecrated me to the work that I am still permitted to do."

Fanny Crosby held no ill will toward  the doctor who caused her blindness.  She said, “If I could meet him now, I would say, ‘Thank you, Thank you…..for making me blind.”

My friend, do you blame God for things that have happened in your life?  Are there things you feel that have been unfair in your life?  Let’s not blame God.  Let’s take our situation in life and make the most of it.  Let’s use what situation in life we have and use it for God’s Glory to help others and tell them about Jesus.

Fanny loved learning, but one thing she did not like was arithmetic.  She wrote the following poem –

“I loathe, abhor, it makes me sick, to hear the word ARITHMETIC!”

In 1834 Fanny learned of the New York Institute for the Blind and knew this was the answer to her prayer for an education. She entered the school when she was twelve, and within the year, she was their best student. As she grew, poetry became her passion, and she filled every spare moment with writing verse. By the time Fanny was twenty, she was famous throughout New York and a sought-after speaker for poetry recitations and official ceremonies

 She became somewhat of a celebrity at the school and was called upon to write poems for almost every conceivable occasion.

After graduation became a teacher, and went on to teach there for 23 years.

She had more speaking invitations than she could keep, and famous men such as President Polk called on her often. With so many friends and associates, she was never lonely. Then in 1858, God brought a special man into her life, the blind musician Alexander Van Alstyne. They were married forty-four years and had one child, who died in infancy.  What a happy couple they were! 

My friend, if you will wait upon the Lord, He will bring that special person to you in His time and in His way.

Oh, do not get ahead of the Lord. Wait upon Him.

Alexander was a former pupil at the Institute, and he was a musician who was considered one of the finest organists in the New York area. Fanny herself was an excellent harpist, played the piano, and had a lovely soprano voice. Even as an old woman (Fanny lived to be 95) Fanny would sit at the piano and play everything from classical works to hymns to ragtime. Sometimes she even played old hymns in a jazzed up style.

My friend, even with your shortcomings, you can use your talents and abilities to great things for the Lord that can be a blessing and a help to many other people!

Fannie didn’t make excuses.  She used what she had to serve the Lord.  My friend, are you serving the Lord, or have you been busy making excuses why you can’t…..?

Making much music

After her marriage, Fanny left the Institute, and in a few years she found her true vocation in writing hymns. She had an agreement with the publishers Bigelow and Main to write three hymns a week for use in their Sunday school publications. Sometimes Fanny wrote six or seven hymns a day. Though Fanny could write complex poetry as well as improvise music of classical structure, her hymns were aimed at bringing the message of the Gospel to people who would not listen to preaching. Whenever she wrote a hymn, she prayed God would use it to lead many souls to Him.

When she met the Christian composer William Bradbury in 1864, the friendship was almost instantaneous. Bradbury furnished the tunes for many of Fanny's hymns; and though she worked with several composers, their partnership was the most enduring. 
     Fanny usually composed dozens of songs in her head before dictating them to a secretary, but no matter what she created, she used the same approach. The book More Than Conquerors tells what she said about her method: "It may seem a little old-fashioned, always to begin one's work with prayer, but I never undertake a hymn without first asking the good Lord to be my inspiration." 

 

Music for the masses

     The next time you sing an old, familiar hymn, look at the small print at the bottom of the page, and you probably will read the name of Fanny Crosby.
     Throughout her long career, she wrote more than 8,500 gospel songs and hymns, many of which are still popular today. "To God Be The Glory," "Praise Him, Praise Him," "Tell Me The Story Of Jesus," "I Am Thine O Lord"—every song is a testimony of her love for Jesus Christ.

 

In her own day, the evangelistic team of Dwight L. Moody and Ira D. Sankey effectively brought Fanny Crosby's hymns to the masses. Today many of her hymns continue to draw souls to their Savior for both salvation and comfort: " Blessed Assurance," "All the Way My Savior Leads Me," "Pass Me Not, O Gentle Savior," " Safe in the Arms of Jesus," "Rescue the Perishing," "Jesus, Keep Me Near the Cross," and many more.   Most of these hymns were written after she was 41 years of age.

To the urban poor

     Even in her later years, Fanny stayed as busy as ever, and not just with song writing. Always on her heart were those less fortunate, and she volunteered much time at local ministries. Whenever someone approached her with a question or need, she witnessed to them one-on-one and shared the light of God's Word.

Friend, I don’t believe we will ever be of much use to God unless we have a compassion for other people, especially the less fortunate.  Friend, do you really have compassion for other people?

At the age of 83, Fanny said, “I believe myself still really in the prime of life!” 

Oh, if we could follow her example and live life to the most even in our later years…..and serve the Lord?

How sad it is when many gifted people…who have so much to give….simply ‘retire’ from serving the Lord when they get old.  Fanny did not do that.

At 90 she declared, “My love for the Holy Bible and its sacred truth is stronger and more precious to me at 90 than at 19.”  Asked about her long years, she said her secret was that she guarded her taste, her temper, and her tongue.

How wise we would be to do the same….would you agree?

One of her famous sayings through her life was, “Don’t waste any sympathy on me.  I am the happiest person living!”

Though her hymn writing declined in later years, Fanny was active in speaking engagements and missionary work among America's urban poor almost until the day of her death in 1915. She sought to bring others to her Savior not only through her hymns but through her personal life as well.

It was said of another blind hymn writer, George Matheson, that God made him blind so he could see clearly in other ways and become a guide to men.

     Fanny died peacefully in her home in Bridgeport, Connecticut, on February 12, 1915.  For the first time, she could see, and best of all, she could see her savior, as she wrote, FACE TO FACE. The crowds at her funeral were a testimony to the wide-spread influence she had for the Lord. These words from one of her final hymns express the foremost hope of her life: "And I shall see Him face to face and tell the story - saved by grace."

What happened when Fanny died? Perhaps one of her later hymns tells it best:

When my lifework is ended and I cross the swelling tide,
When the bright and glorious morning I shall see,
I shall know my Redeemer when I reach the other side,
And His smile will be the first to welcome me.

Chorus:

I shall know Him, I shall know Him,
And redeemed by His side I shall stand!
I shall know Him, I shall know Him
By the print of the nails in His hand.

You will find this quote on Fanny’s grave in Bridgeport, Connecticut….”SHE HATH DONE WHAT SHE COULD..”

Buried close by  is P.T. Barnum, the Circus –Tycoon, who laid up treasures on earth while Fanny’s treasures were laid up in heaven.

Fanny Crosby gave her life to help other people.  What are you, my friend, doing to help other people?  Are you involved in your church?  What are you doing to serve Jesus?   Fanny Crosby could have made many excuses……she was blind….but she served the Lord any way and look the Lord did through her.  He can use you too.